On the 9th the Boers delivered a half-hearted assault upon Ladysmith, and were repulsed with some loss. The main attack came from the north, and was met by the King's Royal Rifles and the Rifle Brigade. It was never pressed home, as the Boers did not approach within a thousand yards of the British works. They could be seen in all directions just out of range massed for an advance, but the advance was never made. There was a furious interchange of rifle and cannon fire, but little more. The British losses were absurdly small--only three killed and seventeen wounded. To what extent the enemy suffered it was difficult to say, but there is reason to think that the Boer losses were far heavier. When the conflict died away, the naval weapons fired a salute of twenty-one guns in honour of the Prince of Wales' birthday, and the troops sang the National Anthem "to the accompaniment of shrapnel and 100-lb. shells from the Boer guns shrieking through the air." Altogether the result of the fight was such as to make the enemy very chary of attacking our works, and to put fresh spirit into the beleaguered force. On this same day Mr. Kruger threatened that unless a Transvaal spy, named Marks, who had been arrested and confined in Ladysmith, were released, he would execute six British officers. The threat was received with the contempt which it deserved. It appeared that Marks was a member of the Transvaal detective service who had been in Natal gathering information before the war. As such his detention was perfectly justifiable; indeed, in any European struggle he would have been summarily shot. [Illustration: THE EYES OF THE ARMY, NATAL POLICE ON PATROL.] [Sidenote: The Boers at Chieveley.] On November 12 the first ray of light pierced the deep gloom in Natal, when the first troops of General Hildyard's brigade landed from the _Roslin Castle_ at Durban. They were at once sent up country to Estcourt. On this same day a general movement of Boers coming from the Free State began upon Central Natal. On the 13th the railway line was destroyed at Chieveley, one station to the south of Colenso. A force of about 500 Boers was seen at Chieveley on this day. The armoured train arrived while they were actually at work destroying the line and temporarily drove them back. About the same time parties of Boers were seen at Estcourt, and some alarm began to be felt for the troops at that place. On the 14th the _Lismore Castle_ and _Yorkshire_ arrived at Durban, on the 15th the _Gascon_, and on the 16th the _Hawarden Castle_, and landed fresh reinforcements, which were hurried up to General Hildyard at Estcourt. [Illustration: THE DUBLIN FUSILIERS CLIMBING INTO THE ARMOURED TRAIN ON THE DAY OF THE DISASTER.] [Illustration: FIRING A GUN FROM AN ARMOURED TRAIN.] [Sidenote: Armoured train wrecked near Chieveley.] [Sidenote: [NOV. 15, 1899.]